Herzliya woman cleared in murder of son, 6, due to ‘active psychotic state’
Sigal Yana Itzkovich to spend 25 years in psychiatric facility over gruesome July 16 murder; 33-year-old told police she drank nail polish, claimed family was abducted by aliens
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
A woman accused of murdering her 6-year old son was cleared on Sunday of criminal responsibility for the grisly 2024 killing by a Tel Aviv court, which ordered her kept in a psychiatric facility for decades.
The Tel Aviv District Court ruled Sigal Yana Itzkovich was in an “active psychotic state” on July 16 when she stabbed her son Liam to death in their Herzliya home, citing a professional psychiatric assessment.
Instead of jail, Itzkovich will be committed to a psychiatric facility for 25 years, the court ruled.
Itzkovich was indicted in August 2024 on charges of aggravated murder, aggravated assault, killing an animal, and obstruction of justice.
According to prosecutors, Itzkovich was alone with her son on July 16 when she took a kitchen knife, stabbed her dog, and then stabbed her son dozens of times in the bathtub, killing him. She later returned to kill the dog with a knife and axe, after hearing its wailing, prosecutors said.
In a video disseminated on social media following the attack, Itzkovich can be seen walking toward the entrance of a Herzliya mall while holding an axe and intermittently grinning. She is barefoot, and her face and legs are streaked with blood. She begins attacking a guard with the axe, before he wrests it away.
During police questioning, Itzkovich reportedly claimed that she took drugs and drank nail polish before killing her son, an act that she was said to have confessed to.
הרצליה קניון שבעת הכוכבים:
אישה כנראה בהתקף פסיכוטי רדפה אחר מאבטח עם גרזן, דקרה אותו, לאחר מכן הלכה לכניסה לקניון התפשטה עשתה מדיטציה ודקרה את עצמה בחזה.. pic.twitter.com/afXN3ynCko— מה חדש. What's new❓ (@Gloz111) July 16, 2024
After being indicted, Itzkovich reportedly told the court that her family had been “abducted by aliens and we suffered atrocities in a spaceship.”
Channel 12 reported that Itzkovich turned to the judges after receiving the verdict Sunday to apologize for her actions.
“I was not in a state in which I could understand what was going on around me. This could have been prevented had my husband not left me. I was attacked by aliens. I’m sorry for my actions,” she reportedly said.
Channel 12 quoted Liam’s father, Doron, as saying after the acquittal that he felt Itzkovich was still being held responsible for her actions.
“She’s sick, and she needs to receive treatment, and that’s okay. What happened happened. I don’t have a way of explaining the pain because it hurts so much. In my eyes, this isn’t an acquittal. She isn’t going home.”
The judges were critical of Israel’s welfare authorities in their verdict, hinting that there were indications that Itzkovich was not well and should have gotten help. Among the signs, according to reports, was an incident in which Itzkovich allegedly allowed her son to play with bleach. In another incident that occurred while Liam was an infant, she stood with him on the roof of her apartment building and threatened to jump until police intervened.
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